'House of Cards' season 2 trailer shows more of the political intrigue ahead

If you’re a Netflix subscriber with access to their Instant service, you may have already seen the first season of House of Cards, Beau Willimon’s adaptation of the 1990 BBC miniseries of the same name; those who haven’t, though, should consider taking the time to catch up sooner rather than later, as the series’ second installment will premiere in mid-February this year. To herald the program’s return to air, Netflix has offered up a trailer for season two alongside a new promotional poster to tide fans over before Frank Underwood’s quest for revenge continues once more.

Those who haven’t seen House of Cards to date unsurprisingly won’t get much out of the footage; this isn’t a show one can simply hop aboard blindly and follow along without considerable difficulty (and to that end, you may want to avoid watching it if you’re unversed in the show’s plot intricacies as of now). For everyone else, though, this juicy teaser ought to excite and tantalize with all of its promise of further politicking, scheming, and intrigue as Frank (Kevin Spacey) and his wife, Claire (Robin Wright), maneuver through the corruptible underbelly of Washington in their joint pursuit of power.

Of course, things look like they’re getting a bit more complicated for the Underwoods this time around: now that the couple has climbed a few rungs on the political ladder, lying and murdering with calculated precision on the way up, they’re prime targets for increased scrutiny and extortion. Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) has begun stitching together the pieces to observe the bigger picture of Frank’s crimes; Raymond Tusk (Gerald McRaney), meanwhile, is calling in favors from Frank, threatening a grim outcome should the newly nominated Vice President fail to do so. On top of all of that, privacy has become a thing of the past for both Frank and Claire in light of their newfound notoriety. Heavy lies the head that wears the crown, indeed.